Beanz Meanz Beanz

Heinz tasked Cow to create a brand experience that brought to life their ‘It Has To Be..’ ad creative. The cafe of the same name was our response.

Located in the heart of the City of London, the café was opened for four days in the second week of January (which also happened to be the coldest week on record since 1947). The ‘IT HAS TO BE HEINZ Café was dressed to recreate the comfort of a British family kitchen, and in order to further reinforce the message, was staffed exclusively by real mums and dads.

The Café was billed as offering respite from the freezing cold for overworked City workers (and Shoreditch trendies) suffering from the January blues. To drive footfall, we contacted almost 1,000 local offices and businesses with invitations and posted announcements in listings press. In return for their meals, we asked customers to make a donation to Help A London Child. We also supported the Café online with dedicated Flickr and Twitter profiles.

The Café was packed for the full four days. Over half a tonne of beans on toast were served in total. We achieved 33 pieces of coverage across national, broadcast and online press in the likes of The Sun, The Mirror, The Mail Online and City AM; blogs and listings press and even design press, including Design Week.

The Café was discussed on Capital FM by Johnny Vaughan and Lisa Snowdon in one of five Capital FM shout outs. On Twitter, 350 people commented about the Heinz Cafe, including Sunday Times columnist India Knight.